I'm on board with knives being useful tools, but it sort of freaks me out when people say they're going to use them for self defense. Without some actual knowledge and training, it seems it would be just as likely your knife would be used against you, no?

You know, I've spent the bulk part of my life never carrying around anything to defend myself based on the assumption that it would just be used against me if I were attacked, but now that I really think about it- is there any actual data or statistics that back that up? I mean of course every incident is different, but recently I've been wondering if I'm selling myself short and if my life were really in danger already, what are my chances of someone overpowering me with my own self-defense thingie? And I call it thingie because I'm scared of knives and don't ever see myself carrying one, but I carry a screwdriver around to tighten loose screws in life and kind of always assumed I could use it to defend myself in a pinch.

I think that saying you would defend yourself and actually stabbing/slashing someone and getting their blood on you are two different things altogether.

Obviously, knives have other uses but I think what 'Bang found disturbing was the lack of acknowledgment that knives have the potential to be really dangerous. (And don't be a jerk and tell me about the guy who killed his brother in law with a blender. The fact that other things are indeed dangerous and can possibly kill someone does not negate the fact that knives are often used as a weapon. Don't make me post the picture of piles of bloodied machetes that were left by fleeing Genocidaires as they ran from Rwanda.)

_________________A whole lot of access and privilege goes into being sanctimonious pricks J-DubDessert is currently a big bowl of sanctimonious, passive aggressive vegan enduced boak. FezzaYou people are way less funny than Pandacookie. Sucks to be you.-interrobang?!

of course all knives and other sharp things have the potential to be very dangerous, but i'm going to go out on a limb and say the comparison of samurai swords and machetes to the pocket knives people in this thread are talking about carrying is a less than parellel one.

_________________"rise from the ashes of douchebaggery like a fancy vegan phoenix" - amandabear"I'm pretty sure the moral of this story is: fork pants." - cq